Chapter 702 Sweeping All the Way
After the Spring Festival holiday, the return of audiences to work caused the box office of the film market to plummet.
However, thanks to the film's extremely high reputation and the popularity accumulated during the Spring Festival holiday, the price drop of "The Wandering Earth", which is highly praised by domestic science fiction fans, is not that large.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, which was also the Monday of the second week of its release, "The Wandering Earth" earned 360 million yuan at the box office thanks to a national screening rate of 38%, which was only 40 million yuan less than the 409 million yuan the day before.
On Tuesday, the box office was 329 million yuan.
After this day, the total box office of "The Wandering Earth" officially exceeded 3 billion.
The official Weibo account of the movie also posted a message congratulating the box office for breaking 3 billion.
#Cumulative box office exceeds 3 billion! Little broken ball, breaking through all obstacles and moving forward! #
Gu Wei, Wu Jing, Zhao Jinmai and other main creative staff reposted and liked the post, and attached their own blessings.
Many celebrities in the circle, such as Huang Xiaoming, Deng Chao, Chen Teng, Xu Zheng, Yang Mi, Zhao Liying, Jing Tian, etc. liked and congratulated the post on Weibo.
There are discussions about this movie everywhere on the Internet. Although there are some people who don’t like it or are pessimistic about it, the general trend is that people agree and are proud of it.
The largest base of ordinary audiences like "The Wandering Earth" and believe that it is a milestone work that opens a new era for Chinese science fiction films.
".Congratulations! The movie is a huge hit. It has already grossed over 3 billion yuan. Looking at the trend, 4 billion yuan shouldn't be far away.
I heard about your film while I was filming in the US and even went to a nearby theater to see it. It was truly amazing. It’s hard to believe that this was shot by a Chinese crew!”
Gu Wei, who was filming on the set, received a congratulatory call from Liu Yifei from across the ocean.
"Thank you~
How is the filming of "Mulan" going on over there? You actually have time to come out and watch the movie?
Although The Wandering Earth was released in the United States, it was on a very small scale and it was not easy to find a cinema showing it."
"I just wrapped filming a few days ago, and since there's nothing else to do in China, I'm not in a rush to go back. I've been resting at home in Los Angeles these days.
It’s not difficult. There are screenings in the movie theaters in Chinatown, and there are quite a few showtimes.
There were a lot of people when I went there and the attendance was very high.
Although the audience is mainly Chinese, there are also many white and black people."
Liu Yifei sat on a chair on the balcony with a cup of steaming coffee beside her, smiling and talking on the phone.
"How's the reputation of The Wandering Earth over there?"
"Didn't you read the news? The film's Rotten Tomatoes rating is 73%, which is decent.
You have to remember that this is a score given to a Chinese science fiction film based on Hollywood film standards, which is quite good."
"The scale of the screening there is too small, so I haven't paid much attention to it."
"The Wandering Earth" did not have any global release, which is unrealistic and useless. In addition to the domestic premiere on the 5th, it was only screened on a small scale in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and mainly concentrated in theaters near Chinatown.
The copyright has not yet been negotiated in Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia.
But there is no need to rush. The higher the domestic box office, the easier it will be to negotiate the film's copyright.
"When will you return home?"
"End of the month"
"I'm wrapping up filming this movie around the end of the month, and I'll be back in Beijing to have dinner with you."
"It's settled."
In the following days of the second week, "The Wandering Earth" continued to reap box office revenue with extremely exaggerated data.
As of Sunday, February 17, "The Wandering Earth" had been released for two weeks and 13 days, with a total box office of 4.105 billion yuan.
It surpassed the 3.9 billion of "Detective Chinatown 2" and became the third in the domestic film rankings, second only to "Wolf Warrior 2" and "Nezha: The Devil Child Comes into the World".
"Brother Jing, congratulations, the billionaire movie star!"
“Haha, thank you, if the media hadn’t calculated the box office for me, I wouldn’t have noticed it myself.
Who would have thought that after more than ten years of filming and not accumulating much box office revenue, now two movies have broken 10 billion!"
As the box office of "The Wandering Earth" continues to rise, the total box office of Wu Jing's personal starring movies has officially exceeded 10 billion.
But as he said, the movies he participated in in his early years did not have high box office revenue, only a few hundred million or tens of millions, and only a handful of them broke 100 million.
In the past two years, "Wolf Warrior 2" and "The Wandering Earth" have pushed the box office of the movies he starred in to over 10 billion yuan.
Among all the current stars in the domestic entertainment industry, there are a total of four whose total box office has exceeded 10 billion yuan. The first one is undoubtedly Gu Wei. After the release of "Time Raiders" last year, his personal total box office has exceeded 20 billion yuan, leaving a huge gap with those behind him.
Then there is Zhang Tianai. After "Operation Red Sea", her personal total box office exceeded 10 billion yuan, making her the first female actress and second actor in the domestic entertainment industry to earn over 10 billion yuan.
Next are Wu Jing and Huang Bo.
Wu Jing was because of "The Wandering Earth" and Huang Bo was because of "Crazy Alien".
In addition to them, actors who currently have the hope of breaking the 10 billion box office include Chen Teng (9.846 billion), Deng Chao (9.845 billion), and Wang Baoqiang (9.617 billion).
"I've discussed this with Director Guo and we're planning to hold a celebration banquet in Beijing at the end of the month. Can Brother Jing come back?"
The main purpose of calling Wu Jing, in addition to congratulating him on becoming the "10 billion movie star", was to invite him to the celebration banquet.
"Well, I've already started filming The Climbers. I'll try my best by the end of the month."
"Don't try too hard, you have to come. Our movie is so successful, how can we not celebrate properly? We won't leave until we're drunk."
“Haha, good!
I will definitely go back, and I won’t leave until I’m drunk!” When it comes to drinking, Wu Jing is still in high spirits.
"I'll send you the time and place later."
"By the way, a few days ago I heard Director Guo say that the crew was going on a roadshow in North America, and he asked me if I wanted to go. I was already filming here, so I turned him down."
"Yes, The Wandering Earth received good reviews after its small-scale release in the United States. Director Guo was invited by a local partner to go there for two roadshows.
In addition, we also have to negotiate with Netflix for streaming rights.
Our film has such a high box office in China and has a good reputation in the United States. Moreover, it is not a mainstream movie like "Wolf Warrior 2". It is a "hard science fiction" that is relatively well accepted worldwide.
Netflix is very interested, and I guess the copyright fee won’t be too low.”
"I see, that's great!
With Netflix's influence, even if a movie isn't released in other countries, it can still be seen by audiences around the world!"
“Let’s see how the talks turn out.”
"I never thought that The Wandering Earth would have such an incredible box office success!"
At home in Beijing, Ning Hao sighed as he watched the news.
“Guo Fan’s filming is good, so it’s normal that everyone likes it.
I've also watched this movie, and the special effects are indeed far superior to previous domestic science fiction films, and the plot is also very touching."
His wife Xing Aina came over with a plate of washed strawberries and placed it on the table in front of Ning Hao.
Xing Aina is not an ordinary housewife, she is a famous screenwriter in the circle.
Ning Hao's famous work "Crazy Stone" was written by Xing Aina. In addition, she is also the screenwriter of "Crazy Racing", "Lost in Thailand", "Crazy Alien" and "Lost in Hong Kong".
Ning Hao’s current achievements are inseparable from Xing Aina’s support.
Their relationship is a bit like that of Xu Ke and Shi Nansheng, the couple complement each other.
"I also know that he's a good filmmaker. When we were filming, our two crews were at the same filming base.
Chen Teng always went next door to chat with Gu Wei. When we were free, Guo Fan and I would often eat and drink together.
Now everyone’s movies are released at the same time. The Wandering Earth has been a huge success at both the box office and the word-of-mouth, and has now exceeded 4 billion, but our movie has not lived up to expectations.”
[Crazy Alien]'s current box office is about to reach 2 billion, but looking at the trend, it can only take another 100 or 200 million at the most. It will definitely make money, but it's a bit different from what was expected.
Besides, the current reputation of the movie is really not very good.
Xing Aina saw the reason why her husband was in a bad mood and said with a smile:
“In fact, our film is already pretty good, but everyone’s expectations were too high before it was released, so the audience felt disappointed and it’s normal for them to criticize it a bit.
Did you feel that everyone was pessimistic about The Wandering Earth when you were filming it? At that time, you had a sense of superiority when you dragged Guo Fan along for a meal and a drink. Now that the box office and reputation are not as good as his, you feel a little embarrassed.
"Uh, no way." Ning Hao's thoughts were predicted by his wife, and he looked a little embarrassed.
"Haha, it's normal for you to think that way.
After all, Guo Fan was still unknown before, but after "The Wandering Earth", he became the number one science fiction film director in China.
But I believe in your talent. No matter how good others are, you are no worse than anyone else!"
Xing Aina picked up a strawberry and handed it to Ning Hao, saying encouragingly.
"You're right, wife!
Guo Fan succeeded, and I didn't fail either. Crazy Alien also did well at the box office. It was just me who was too depressed."
After his wife's comfort, Ning Hao easily came to his senses.
Xing Aina smiled.
"[Crazy Alien] is a thing of the past. You should focus on [My People, My Country] for now. It's going to start filming in just over ten days."
"Don't worry, the actors have already been decided, and I've chosen Ge You as the lead actor for my unit.
The plot is relatively simple, and the filming location is in Beijing, so it will definitely be completed within a month.
The finished film will be out before the middle of this year."
"The audience will be able to tell at a glance which of the seven directors' compilation films are good and which are bad, so don't take it lightly," Xing Aina reminded.
"Haha, don't worry, Director Kai is here," Ning Hao joked.
"Don't talk nonsense"
Among the several movies released during the Spring Festival, the one with the worst reputation is Zhou Xingchi's "The New King of Comedy".
The total box office in two weeks was only over 500 million yuan, and the daily box office had dropped to less than 10 million yuan.
Although the box office has made money compared to the cost, it is still far from the expectations.
The atmosphere in Xinghui Company's office was somewhat depressing.
"Lisa, how much money do we need to pay if the bet fails?" Zhou Xingchi asked without raising his head as he looked at the Spring Festival box office data in front of him.
"According to the bet agreement we signed with New Culture, the company's total profit from 2016 to 2019 must reach 1.04 billion RMB. If it fails to do so, cash compensation or a share buyback will be required."
“How much is the cash compensation?”
"Based on the current profit, it will cost at least 800 million RMB," the secretary replied without hesitation.
"I understand. Please go out first."
Zhou Xingchi waved his hand and asked his secretary to leave.
When there was only one person left in the office, he put down the data sheet in his hand and sighed.
Zhou Xingchi knew that with the current performance of "The New King of Comedy", the bet would definitely not be completed.
The profit difference was so great that he no longer had time to make new movies.
"I wish Gu Wei had taken on the role of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons"
The main reason for the failure of this bet was that the box office of "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back" failed to meet expectations.
With the foundation laid by the first "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" and the reputation accumulated by "The Mermaid" the previous year, I thought "The Demons Strike Back" would at least get a box office of 3 billion yuan, and it would not be impossible to surpass "The Mermaid".
Who would have thought that the final box office result was only 1.6 billion, and it also ruined the reputation of the series.
Zhou Xingchi never thought that his filming was bad, he just blamed the wrong casting. He contacted Gu Wei personally, but the other party refused, so he had to find Li Jiaheng as a substitute.
Who would have thought the other party's performance would be so poor.
Seeing that Gu Wei is now releasing one super-high-grossing movie after another, Zhou Xingchi thinks that if he could have worked with him in the beginning, he might have made enough profit from the bet on "Journey to the West: The Demons Strike Back" and would not have had to rush to shoot "The New King of Comedy".
He knew in his heart that this movie was made to make money, and in order to rush the filming, all aspects were a bit rough.
Thinking this, and seeing the astonishing 4.1 billion yuan box office figure for "The Wandering Earth" on the data sheet, Zhou Xingchi muttered to himself, "Science fiction movies? I've made them before, like "CJ7." Guess I'll have to go see what that movie is like when I have time."
(End of this chapter)
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